Joe Allen: Stoke City hopeful midfielder will be fit for clash against Manchester City despite suffering concussion on Wales duty

Stoke are hopeful midfielder Joe Allen will be fit for their Premier League clash at Manchester City on Saturday despite suffering concussion while on Wales duty.

The 27-year-old was forced off in Wales’ 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to the Republic of Ireland on Monday, which ended their hopes of qualifying for the tournament in Russia next year.

He suffered a head injury in a collision with David Meyler in Cardiff and will be checked over by club on Thursday.

“Joe is an early doubt, but we are still hopeful on him for the weekend although he did have to come off last night after suffering a bang to his head,” assistant manager Mark Bowen told the club’s official site.

“We haven’t seen him today because he only arrived back home late last night, and we wanted to give him the next 48 hours to make sure he is ready to come in on Thursday.

“We didn’t see any real need to get him in this morning, so fingers crossed he is OK and available for the game on Saturday.

“There is protocol to follow with injuries of this nature, which we will of course follow – the doctor will go around later today to see him, but he will come back in on Thursday and we will assess him then.”